Michele Romanow

No lesser authority than Forbes magazine included Michele Romanow in their list of ‘Millennials on a Mission’. They had good reason to. Born in 1985, Romanow has already built a multi-million dollar business empire. As a tech entrepreneur, venture capitalist, even as a television personality, Romanow has established herself as one of the most successful women to have come out of Canada in recent years — she was the sole Canadian included in Forbes’ list and was also included in a list of the ‘100 Most Powerful Woman in Canada’, compiled by the influential Women’s Executive Network.

Romanow started her first business, a coffee shop, at the age of 21, whilst studying Civil Engineering at university. Afterr graduating, she became Director of Strategy for the Canadian arm of multi-billion dollar department store company Sears. But, before long, her natural entrepreneurship resurfaced and she was helping to start various businesses — she had launched five by the time she was 33 — including e-commerce business Buytopia, which offers shoppers online deals. Within two years of lits launch, the company had gathered millions of subscribers.

In 2015, her genius for business saw Romanow invited to join the panel of the Canadian version of Dragon’s Den, becoming the show’s youngest member in the process. The same year, she set up a new venture, Clearbanc, which offers investment to start-up businesses and is helping to address the imbalance of investment in female-led businesses. The success of Clearbanc has led to further awards for Romanow, including Angel Investor of the Year from the Canadian Innovation Awards.